The Leelanau wine peninsula and the bay shore

The Leelanau Peninsula forms the western shore of Grand Traverse Bay, and the famous scenic highway M-22 loops around it past water, orchards, and vineyards. This is wine country — the Leelanau Peninsula is the larger of the two well-known wine peninsulas around Traverse City, with dozens of wineries and tasting rooms tucked into its rolling hills. Cool air off the surrounding water gives the grapes (and the cherries and apples) a long, gentle growing season.

The hub of this side of the peninsula is Suttons Bay, an artsy, walkable village on its own little inlet of the bay, with a vibrant downtown of shops, restaurants, a community-owned movie theater, and a marina. The 45th parallel — the halfway point between the equator and the North Pole — crosses M-22 just north of town, marked by a roadside sign. A few miles up the shore is Peshawbestown, home of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and its Leelanau Sands Casino. At the south end, close to Traverse City, the Elmwood Township area around Greilickville is the county’s most populated corner and an easy gateway to the city’s stores and services.

For buyers, this is a sought-after stretch: bay frontage and water-view lots carry a premium, and there’s wine-country acreage, in-town village living in Suttons Bay, and more convenient, close-to-town property near Greilickville. As with any waterfront, look carefully at how your lot meets the water and the condition of any older septic system (see the well-and-septic note).